creative destruction

Whenever there is a paradigmatic shift in market forces, entrenched interests battle to maintain their share. More often than not, they lose and are swept into history’s dustbin. The automobile supplanted the horse and carriage. Diesel electric locomotives spelled the extinction of the steam engine. Jet propulsion eclipsed propellers powered by reciprocating internal combustion engines. Vacuum tubes gave way to transistors.

Invariably, every time the fundamental nature of a technology changes, there are winners and losers. The fossil fuel industry is on the brink of extinction. The resistance to change that is expressed in different ways and by different spokesfools – from fossilized politicians like Senators Imhofe and Byrd to birdbrained pseudo-scientists like Anthony Watts and Bjorn Lomborg – are just part of the death rattle of the soon-to-be-displaced special interests. (Even the smarter guys among the established interests – like Duke Energy and Exelon – are already jumping ship and lining up for a place in the fossil-less energy future.)

There are only two important questions that have yet to be answered as the shift from fossil energy to free energy rolls out:

1. Who will the winners (other than the inhabitants of the planet) be? Clearly guys like Jeff Immelt, who has bet the future of GE on new energy technologies is going to be among the winners – as will GE shareholders. There’s a good chance that Shai Agassi will be among the winners – as will investors in his electric car venture, Better Place. But there will be many others. From the development and deployment of high efficiency photovoltaic solar panels. And the invention of new quick charging, long lasting battery technologies. And many other technological wonders that are just over the horizon.

2. Will we get there in time? This is the most important existential question the world now faces. The science says we have until 2015 to cap GHG output – and then begin to roll it back to 350 ppm or lower. What’s the over and under on that?

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Being Sentient

There's a lot of drivel out there. Too much of it passes for rational thought. Not enough of it is held up to close scrutiny. And a great deal of it finds its way into politics, government, business, the media, and life in general. The purpose of this site is to debate, debunk, and otherwise demythologize the kinds of idiocy that ranges from rank stupidity to gross contempt for the unexpurgated truth.